Last Chance
by MissManiacal
Summary: Lily is everything to James. Lily hates James. What happens when the two are thrown together for their seventh year? Lily/James, Sirius/OC, Remus/OC. FLUFF! please Read & Review, it would be greatly appreciated! thanks. rated T to be safe.
1. Letters

SUPER-INCREDIBLE DISCLAIMER: Because I do not feel like writing this at the beginning of every chapter... The fantastic realm of Harry Potter belongs not to me, but to J. K. Rowling. However, if there is a character you have not heard of before, chances are that they are one of my own creations (Daniela, Lydia, and Madeline, for example). Please do not steal any of my original characters, and always write a super-awesome disclaimer at the beginning of these nonsensical fanfics.

[A/N]: I have decided to further edit these first nine chapters, and greatly appreciate your patience. The plot of the fic will not change, merely some minor things that I've come across that I would like to change. I apologise for my stupid whims. :]

**Last Chance**

**Chapter One: Letters**

Lily was awakened by her sister's shrill voice as something was thrown at her face. "Letter for you, Freak." Petunia said acidly.

Lily picked the thick parchment envelope off of her face, grinning with excited when she noticed the red wax seal. It was her letter from Hogwarts. She eagerly opened it and pulled out a letter.

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_Enclosed you will find a list of school supplies required for your continued  
__studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As usual, the Hogwarts  
__Express will depart from platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station on September the first  
__at eleven o'clock.  
I am also delighted to inform you that you have been selected to serve  
as Head Girl this year. You are to report to the Headmaster's office after the feast to  
__receive your instructions. _

_Congratulations,  
_

_Minerva McGonagall  
__Deputy Headmistress_

Lily read the letter through four times before it finally sank in. She had been made Head Girl. She turned the envelope upside down and her eyes widened as a large silver badge fell into her lap. Lily screamed and began jumping up and down on her bed.

"Lily," her mother called from the kitchen, "breakfast dear!"

She leapt from her bed and raced down the stairs, badge in hand. She nearly steamrollered her father as she skidded to a halt outside the kitchen.

"Hungry are we?" he chuckled. Lily simply beamed and thrust the shiny badge in front of him. His puzzled expression told her that he did not what it was, but then again, her parents were Muggles and Lily hadn't expected them to understand.

She sighed and entered the kitchen to find her mother setting the table, and Petunia sitting in her usual chair eating half a grapefruit. Lily sat down and waited for her parents to join the table before telling them the good news.

"I've been made Head Girl at school!" she shouted.

"Oh, that's wonderful, sweetheart!" Mrs. Evans said while her husband gave his daughter a bone-crushing hug.

"Petunia, don't you have anything to say to your sister?" It was especially hard for Mr. Evans to see his daughters not getting along. If only Petunia could accept the fact that Lily was a witch. Or was it that Petunia was jealous of Lily…?

Petunia pushed herself away from the table and pretended to gag. "I think not," she said, turning her back to the table. She left the kitchen, and the rest of the family could hear her stomping angrily up the stairs.

"I'm sorry about that, honey." Lily's mother said sadly.

Lily looked at her pancakes with tears in her eyes. "Why does she hate me? What did I do wrong?" she sobbed. She stood up and ran from the table.

When she reached her room she threw herself on her bed and cried for hours; no one disturbed her. When her eyes were finally dry, she went to her desk and sat down. Lily reached into the drawer and pulled out three pieces of parchment, a raven quill and a bottle of her signature green ink. She addressed each piece of parchment to one of her three best friends: Daniela Taylor, Lydia Samuels, and Madeline Loveless. She then wrote the same note to each of her friends.

_I got my Hogwarts letter this morning, and guess what? I'm Head Girl!  
__I wonder who the Head Boy is. I'll bet you a galleon that it's Remus; he's  
probably the most intelligent boy in our year. As long as it isn't Potter or  
__Snape.  
__Anyway, I was thinking I might go to Diagon Alley this Saturday. What  
__about you? It'd be great if we could all meet up and shop together.  
__Well, let me know! _

_Lots of love, _

_Lily_

Lily went to her dresser, and smiled at the small tawny owl that sat with its head under its wing on top of a large birdcage. "Melina," She whispered. The owl looked up at her and hooted softly. "Can you take these to Maddie, Dani and Lydia for me?" Melina hooted again and held her leg out. Lily tied the letters to Melina's leg and sighed as she watched her owl fly toward the horizon.

Perhaps tomorrow would be better…

"Oy, Jamie! Get out of bed; we got our letters!" Sirius Black pounced on his best friend's bed and sat on him.

"Ow! Get the hell off of me!" James yelled. He was not a morning person.

Sirius 'humph'ed and removed his rear from James's face. He then decided that if he couldn't sit on James, he would dance instead. He began dancing in a circle, clapping his hands, and singing "Letters! Letters! We got our letters!" in a high pitched voice.

James rubbed his temples and sighed. Sirius just couldn't let him sleep, could he? And James had wanted very much to finish the dream he had been having. A dream concerning himself and a certain redhead. He reached under his bed for a shoe to throw at his best friend. "Shut up!" he shouted as he hurled the shoe. James was pleased when he heard a soft thud and a quiet 'ow'.

He grinned and grabbed the thick parchment envelope that was lying on the pillow next to him. He deftly ripped open the envelope and pulled out the enclosed letter. It read:

_Dear Mr. Potter, _

_Enclosed you will find a list of school supplies required for your continued_  
_studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As usual, the Hogwarts  
__Express will depart from platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station on September the first  
__at eleven o'clock.  
I am also delighted to inform you that you have been selected to serve  
as Head Boy this year. You are to report to the Headmaster's office after the feast to  
__receive your instructions. _

_Congratulations,  
_

_Minerva McGonagall  
__Deputy Headmistress_

James read the letter again, sure that he was mistaken. But there it was, _Head Boy_, clear as day.

"Head Boy." he breathed.

Sirius looked up from the list of supplies. "Say something?" he said.

"They made me Head Boy." James said again.

"You're lying. There's no way in hell that Dumbledore would ever, **ever**, make you Head Boy."

"Read it yourself." James shoved the letter into Sirius' hands and reached for his envelope again. He tipped it upside down on his bed and let the rest of its contents spill out. There was the supply list and, sure enough, there was the badge. It shone bright silver in the early morning light that streamed through the window. James picked it up and turned it over in his hands. On the front of the badge was a Gryffindor lion tangled around a capital 'H'.

"I can't believe this. I thought Moony would get it for sure! And now we can't pull any pranks..." Sirius complained.

"Yeah, I thought for sure it'd be Moony." James said, "But we can still do pranks; we just have to be more careful about it." He stared at the badge for a few minutes before saying, "I wonder who the Head Girl is?"

Sirius smiled mischievously. "Bet it's Evans." He laughed as a blissful lopsided grin appeared on James's face. "And the Heads have their own dormitory." He added as an afterthought. Sirius patted his friend on the back. "Come on Prongs, it's breakfast time, and I'm hungry."

James sighed, coming out of his two-person dream world. "Padfoot, you're always hungry."

"All the more reason for me to go fill my stomach." Sirius said over his shoulder as he sprinted out of James's room. He must have been hungrier than ever because, for once, he actually beat James down the four flights of stairs to the dining room.

"Morning boys." James's mother greeted the teenage boys as they entered the kitchen.

"So what's for breakfast?" Sirius asked as he settled himself in his chair and held up his fork and knife, waiting for his plate to fill.

"Pancakes, eggs, and hash browns, Master Black." said Lock, the house elf. He had appeared out of nowhere – as house elves tend to do – with a large golden platter. Lock snapped his fingers and the food appeared on the platter, which he then set on the table.

"Lock, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Doggy?" He grinned; tormenting house elves was such fun.

"Yes sir, Master... erm… Doggy. Lock will shut his ears in the oven for his disobedience." Poor Lock's head drooped as he walked away toward the kitchen.

"Oh, Lock, don't hurt yourself. I meant it as a joke." The only elf that Sirius wanted to see injured was the one that his mother kept, Kreacher.

"Thank you sir. You are most gracious sir." Lock said nervously, unsure whether Sirius was joking again, or not. When it seemed that Sirius had lost all interest in him, Lock returned to the kitchen and the other house elves to start preparing lunch.

"So, any news about school? Anything new?" Mrs. Potter asked as they dug into their breakfasts.

"You'll never guess." James said, grinning.

"Well they've kept you as Quidditch Captain, I should think." She began. "What else could there be? Prefect?" she asked hopefully.

Sirius snorted into his orange juice. "Prefects are sissies."

Mrs. Potter gave him a semi-stern look then smiled slightly. "Well then, tell me. I hate being kept in suspense. You know that, dear."

James pulled the badge and the letter out of his trouser pocket and handed them to his mother. She read the letter quickly and then looked at the badge.

She was silent for a moment. "Mum?" James asked tentatively.

"Oh, my little Jamie is Head Boy!" she squealed, reaching over the table to envelope her only child in the type of motherly hug that would mortify someone if anyone else happened to see it. James shot Sirius a death glare as he snickered behind his glass.

When the show of motherly affection was over, and they were all settled back in their chairs, eating their breakfasts, Sirius asked, "So when are we going to Diagon Alley?"

"Well, Remus and Peter will probably go on Saturday. It is the last weekend of the summer holiday, after all." James said.

"Then it's settled. We'll go on Saturday." Sirius went back to eating his food while James stared at the wall, wondering if he would see a certain someone in Diagon Alley.

[A/N]: Please review! I cannot improve my writing without constructive criticism.


	2. Reunions

**Last Chance**

**Chapter Two: Reunions**

It was Saturday morning, and to Lily Evans that meant two things: friends and shopping. Daniela, Madeline and Lydia had each replied to her letters, and they had planned a shopping trip to Diagon Alley for this morning. Lily hadn't seen her friends in months, and was glad for a chance to catch up before going back to school.

She would meet her friends at the Leaky Cauldron at noon. Lily sat up in bed and glanced at the clock. It was only eight o'clock in the morning. She stretched and got out of bed. She made her way down to the kitchen, wolfed down an apple and a piece of toast, said good morning to her parents and then retreated upstairs once again.

She dressed, and did her hair and make-up as slowly as she could, trying to waste as much time as possible. When she finally gave up trying to perfect her ponytail, she sat on her bed and tried to think of what else she could do. She realised that she still had to pack her trunk. She had been waiting to pack until she had all of her new school supplies, but as she was leaving in just two days, she could wait no longer. She packed up her clothes, textbooks, and potions ingredients. She filled her cauldron with quills, parchment, and ink before squeezing it into her trunk along with everything else.

By the time Lily had finished packing it was nearing eleven o'clock. She went off to find her mother and let her know that she was leaving. Lily found her in the living room, watching an old soap opera with a box of tissues on hand.

Lily laughed inwardly at her mother. "Hey mum, I'm going shopping now." She said.

Her mother looked away from the television and nodded at her daughter before turning back to the show.

Lily went the door that led to the garage and grabbed her keys from the hook beside the door. She hadn't thought that she needed a car, what with being away at school for most of the year. But as she got older and wanted more independence, she realized that she wanted one. Her parents had agreed to buy her a used car since they didn't have to pay tuition for Hogwarts.

Lily got in her car, started the engine, and began an uneventful drive through London, to the Leaky Cauldron.

"James, Sirius, get up! Peter and Remus will be here soon!" Mrs. Potter called up the stairs. Sirius groaned and turned over in his bed, eyes open and staring at the ceiling. _Might as well,_ he thought and rolled out of bed to get dressed.

James heard his mother call and he laughed. Little did she know that he was already up and ready to leave. He and Sirius had planned things out with the other marauders. Remus and Peter would use floo powder to get to the Potters' enormous house in Godric's Hollow and from there they would Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron. They would be arriving in an hour or so.

James opened his bedroom door, crossed the hall and banged on Sirius's door.

Sirius had run away from his own home during the previous summer. His parents were purebloods, and they supported the rise of a power-hungry dark wizard by the name of Voldemort. Sirius's entire family had been Slytherins at Hogwarts, the type of people he and the other marauders pranked constantly. Sirius didn't agree with the beliefs that the other Blacks held. They loved the dark arts and they thought that muggle-borns were the scum of the earth and should be eradicated. So he left them, much to the dismay of his mother; she was determined to make him see things her way

Sirius opened the door and yawned. "What?" he said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Moony and Wormtail will be here in less than an hour, so get dressed."

"Oh, right, it's Saturday! Hang on." He shut the door in James's face and rushed around his room. He threw on his clothes and ran to his bathroom to brush his teeth and hair. He was ready to go in ten minutes.

Sirius opened his door again to a very annoyed James.

"That hurt you know." James said accusingly as they walked down the many flights of stairs.

"What?" Sirius was confused, as usual. And yet he and James were two of the best students in their year.

"When you slammed the door in my face, it hit my nose." Sirius laughed and James glared at him. "I'm serious; that really hurt!" They looked each other on the eye and they both burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Mrs. Potter emerged from the dining room.

"Nothing, Mum." James said, still shaking with laughter.

"Alright then. Let me know when you're about to leave." She said as she turned and headed back into the dining room. She stopped and turned back to James, "Oh, and your father is coming home tonight." She said with a smile.

James grinned and Sirius patted him on the back. Mr. Potter was auror, the best in Britain. He had been off with a group of people from his department at the Ministry of Magic, tracking down a few Death Eaters that had gone on a killing spree near the end of May. He hadn't been home since then and James hadn't seen his father since the Christmas before.

Just then the fire in the front room burned emerald green. James and Sirius positioned themselves on either side of the fireplace. Someone was arriving, and if it was one of their friends, they wanted to ambush them. They waited for a moment, poised and silent, for a person to appear amidst the flames. They did not wait very long before Remus Lupin's body could be seen spinning in the fire. When he had stopped spinning, Remus stepped out of the fire and began to brush ash and soot from his black travelling cloak. Sirius and James signalled each other behind their friend's back and jumped at him. Remus shouted out in surprise as he fell to the ground, suddenly being crushed by the bodies of James and Sirius.

"Damn it! I should have known." He chuckled when he realized what had happened.

Sirius stood up and laughed, offering a hand to Remus who took it gladly and pulled himself up.

James got to his feet and patted the newcomer on the back. "Yeah, Moony, if hanging out with us for the past six years hasn't taught you to be aware of your surroundings, nothing will."

Remus sighed dramatically, "I suppose you're right, Prongs. Whatever shall I do?" he looked his friends and they began to laugh hysterically for the second time that day.

Sirius was the first to regain his breath. "Well, now we just have to wait for Wormtail to get here."

They sat on the couch in front of the fire and took out their school lists.

"Heavy reading this year, isn't it?" Remus said.

"Oh please, you'll be fine." Sirius said. Remus was another intelligent marauder. Peter on the other hand… no one really knew why the other three were friends with him.

Remus laughed. "I guess you're right."

"Hey Moony," James said, "you'll never guess what happened."

"Well, if I can't guess, why don't you just tell me?"

"Dumbledore made me Head Boy." James grinned.

"Oh no." Remus's smile disappeared, to be replaced with a troubled frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Lily is the most likely candidate for Head Girl."

"And?" Sirius said.

"Well, she's not exactly a fan of Prongs." Remus said matter-of-factly.

James groaned. "Does no one think that it's possible for me to befriend Lily?"

Sirius and Remus glanced at each other and said together, "No." Suddenly, the fire turned green again and out tumbled a small chubby boy with watery eyes: Peter Pettigrew. He brushed himself off and looked up at his friends.

"Hey there, Wormtail." James said cheerily, "Do YOU think I can get Evans to be my friend?" he raised his eyebrows, prompting Peter to answer.

"Nope."

James's shoulders fell and he slumped back onto the couch, muttering sarcastically about them being 'some friends'.

"Hey Wormy, Prongsy here made Head Boy." Sirius said.

"No way!"

"Does no one have faith in me?" James shouted.

"'Course we do." Remus said, "but when it comes to Lily and having authority at school..."

Sirius beat him to the point, "Evans will never take you seriously, mate, never."

James sighed and grabbed a handful of floo powder from the jar on the end table. He went to the fireplace and threw it in, and as soon as the powder touched the flames, they glowed a bright green. "Let's go then." He said. James stepped into the fire, shouted "Diagon Alley!" and was gone.

Remus looked at Sirius and shook his head. "I think you took it a bit too far this time, Padfoot." Then the three remaining marauders took their turns stepping into the fire, on their way to Diagon Alley.

Lily parked her car in front of the Leaky Cauldron. She quickly looked over herself in the rear-view mirror and grabbed her purse from under the passenger seat.

She entered the pub and glanced around the room, searching for her friends. She saw them in the corner by one of the many stone fireplaces. They were standing near a group of boys that probably went to their school, but Lily couldn't see their faces because they were huddled in circle heads bent low in discussion. She smiled and waved to them and they waved back.

As she approached the three girls, Lydia called out to her. "Lily!"

At the sound of her name, one of the boys in the group glanced up at the three friends and followed their gaze, straight to Lily. When Lily saw the shocked grin on his face, her smile disappeared. Of course, he just had to be here.

[A/N]: Three guesses who. ;]

Review, please!


	3. Encounters

**Last Chance**

**Chapter three: Encounters**

Lily felt as though someone had just shoved her into her worst nightmare. Today she was supposed to be shopping with her friends, but instead, she was shopping with her friends **and** the marauders. It had been Daniela's bright idea to invite the boys to join them, because she knew that Lydia liked Remus, and Madeline had a crush on Sirius.

The afore mentioned pairs were walking side by side, talking nervously amongst each other. It was common knowledge at Hogwarts that Lily hated James. It was also common knowledge that James would do anything in the world to go out with Lily. Daniela walked awkwardly alongside Peter; she didn't like him much. Lily and James, being the only two left with no one to walk with, were stuck together, much to James' delight and Lily's misfortune. Daniela threw Lily and apologetic glance. Lily glared at her for a moment, and then softened her gaze. She would get through the day as well as she could for her friends' sakes. She was the only one that had any problems with the boys.

Ever since their first year at school, James had asked Lily to every dance, every trip to Hogsmead and anywhere else he could. And every time Lily said no. Lily had turned James down seven hundred and ninety-eight times (James had been keeping count). But this year, James was determined to win her over. He had sworn to his friends that if he asked her out for the eight hundredth time and she still refused, he would give up. James only had two more chances to ask, and he wanted more than anything for her to say yes.

Over the summer, he had made a list of all the things he had heard Lily say that she hated about him. His inflated ego, his cockiness, his pranks, his immaturity… it had been a rather long list. James had tried his best to change, with Sirius's help of course, and he was sure that if Lily saw just how much he had changed for her in such a short amount of time, that she would give him a chance.

Sirius tapped the bricks in the courtyard and the wall opened to reveal a busy street, bustling with witches and wizards.

"Where to first?" Lydia asked.

Lily pulled her copy of the supplies list from her pocket and glanced at it. "Well, why don't we go where we have to get the least amount of stuff first?" she said.

James nodded, "Yeah, that way we don't have to carry around a load of books all day." Lily mentally shook her fist at him. He was agreeing with her, and she did not want that. Everyone else agreed, though, and they decided to stop at Gringotts to replenish their money supplies.

A few speeding, underground cart rides later, the group stood in the bright sunshine again.

"Where to first?" Sirius asked.

"How about the Apothecary? We don't really need to buy too much there." Madeline suggested.

They went to the Apothecary and restocked their potions supplies. From there they went to Eeylops Owl Emporium to get owl treats and the Magical Menagerie for cat treats.

"Anyone need new robes?" Lydia asked. James, Sirius, Remus and Daniela raised their hands. They had each grown at least four inches over the summer, and their robes barely reached their ankles.

"Off to Madam Malkin's, then." Lily said.

When they had finished buying their new robes, Sirius declared that it was time for lunch. Remus rolled his eyes, "Always stuffing your face, aren't you?"

"Why yes, yes I am." He childishly stuck out his tongue and ran off to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. The others followed him, chatting merrily about the coming school year. All of them, except for Lily and James.

The group of seventh year students pushed two tables together in order to accommodate their number. James sat down in the chair next to Lily and grinned as he handed her a cone of chocolate fudge ice cream. Her favourite.

Lily curtly thanked him and took the ice cream, muttering, "Honestly, how someone could call this lunch…"

It was nearing five o'clock in the afternoon when they finally returned to the Leaky Cauldron. They were exhausted from walking and carrying their bags. The four girls said their goodbyes, as did the marauders. Remus hugged Lydia before taking a handful of Floo powder and vanishing into the green flames. Sirius glanced at the girls awkwardly before following Remus into the fire; James and Lily were glaring in opposite directions, and Lily had her arms crossed.

James had a plan. He needed to distract her. "By the way Evans, did I tell you that I'm Head Boy?"

It worked. Lily stood, shock etched across her face. James took his chance and leaned in to kiss her while she was too dumbstruck to act. He gave her a crooked grin, and disappeared after Sirius.

Lily's friends glanced at her warily, worried that she would explode at any moment. Peter thought it best to leave before Lily came out of her daze, so he moved to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo powder from a porcelain pot beside the fireplace. He muttered a quick goodbye before he was engulfed in the bright green flames.

With the marauders gone, the girls could sit Lily down and talk her out of doing anything rash. Daniela pushed a chair up behind Lily so that Lydia and Madeline could lower her carefully into it.

"Lily?" Madeline asked cautiously.

She snapped out of her trance, "What the bloody hell is Dumbledore thinking?" she whispered, "He can't possibly expect me to work with- with that arrogant jerk for the whole year!"

"Lily, whatever Dumbledore's thinking, he must have some reason. I mean, Dumbledore wouldn't make a mistake in picking the Heads…" Lydia trailed off.

"That's it. It must be a mistake. I'll talk to Dumbledore before the feast on Monday…" Lily muttered hysterically, rocking back and forth in her chair.

"Lily? Lily, calm down. It can't possibly be that bad. He seemed more… mature today that I've ever seen him before. Maybe he changed over the summer. Maybe things will be different this year." Daniela said.

"Yeah," Lydia agreed with Daniela, "yeah, maybe you'll even give the guy a chance this year."

Lily glared at her. "I will never, absolutely never, give James Potter the time of day."

"But Lily, what if he really has changed?"

"Maddie, he hasn't changed and he never will."

"Come on Lily, that's what I said about Remus, remember? I thought he'd never show any kind of maturity or decency whatsoever, but now look at us. I really think he might ask me out this year."

"But Remus is the only responsible one, anyway!" Lily shouted, "Potter is absolutely nowhere near responsible! He'll leave me to do all of the work while he's off playing games with Sirius!"

"Lily, don't make assumptions." Daniela said.  
"Why the hell not?"

Madeline caught on and said with a smirk, "Haven't you ever heard? When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me."

Lily threw her hands up in frustration and turned to leave. "Fine. I won't make assumptions, but I won't be naïve either. James Potter is still James Potter. And nothing can change that. I'll see you all on the train." And with that she left, leaving three stunned girls in her wake.

The whole drive home, Lily tried to picture the upcoming year. Would James actually be responsible, or would she have to work alone? What if he really had changed? What if they actually began to get along? What if...?

[A/N]: Review, please. :]


	4. The Return of Henry Potter

**Last Chance**

**Chapter four: The Return of Henry Potter**

Once home, James could hardly sit still. Not only had he kissed Lily Evans, but his father would be coming home tonight.

Sirius sat on the couch in front of the fire, its light filling the room with a warm glow. He watched as James paced back and forth in front of the couch and Mrs. Potter stood anxiously by the fire.

Sirius's eyes followed James back and forth like pendulums. It had been like this for hours and he was beginning to get dizzy. "Prongs." James ignored him, "PRONGS!" Sirius yelled.

James stopped and jerked his head around to look at Sirius.

"If you keep pacing, you'll wear a hole in the rug." Sirius laughed.

James ran a hand through his hair, "I guess you're right." He sat down, but continuously fidgeted. Sirius sighed and shook his head. But then again, who could blame James? He hadn't seen his father in months.

They had only to wait a few more minutes before a loud _crack_ was heard at the front door. James and his mother raced to the door and Sirius followed at a normal pace. Mrs. Potter threw open the door to reveal her husband, thin and pale, as if he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Oh, Henry!" she cried as she fell into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Jane." He said hugging her back and kissing her.

"Hey, Dad." James said.

Henry Potter looked up to see his son, taller than he remembered and grinning. Mr. Potter grinned back, and let go of his wife. He gave both James and Sirius hugs before entering the house, and collapsing on the couch.

"So boys, how have you been? How was your summer?" he asked as James and Sirius sat down on either side of him. Jane had gone to the kitchen to tell the house elves to prepare all of her husband's favourite foods.

"Well, it was nice to take a break from school, but now I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts." James said with a wink.

"What's all this about?" Henry asked, turning to Sirius. "Do you know?"  
Sirius grinned, "Well, James here is Head Boy this year, and Evans will probably be Head Girl."

"Head Boy? Really?" Henry said, looking at James in awe. James nodded and his father slapped him on the back. "Excellent job, my boy!"

They settled down again and Mr. Potter asked, "So James, still after this Lily girl?"

James grinned sheepishly.

"She still hate you?"

James nodded, his smile slipping a bit.

Henry raised his eyebrows and shook his head in disbelief. "That's unhealthy, I tell you. You've been after her for nearly seven years!"

"Well I've sworn to only ask her out eight hundred times, and I've only got two more chances so…"

"Oh, well that makes all the difference." Henry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'm not giving up."

Sirius cut in, "At least we know he's got determination."

They laughed at that and began talking about the last school semester and the summer. When Lock came to announce that dinner was ready, the three men joined Jane in the dining room and continued to laugh merrily.

**A Disturbance at the Evans's**

It was Sunday afternoon, and Lily was watching television when her mother interrupted her momentary calmness with horrible news.

"Lily dear, Petunia's boyfriend, Vernon, is coming to dinner tonight." Mrs. Evans flinched, expecting her younger daughter to explode.

"Come again?" Lily asked

"Vernon, Pet's boyfriend. He'll be here for dinner tonight."

"Oh. Well, there's a simple solution to that." Lily said, calm again. Her mother raised her eyebrows. "I won't be."

"Lily, you're leaving for school tomorrow morning." Mrs. Evans pleaded. "Please stay. For your father and I? Please?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine, Mum. But what if Petunia told her whale of a boyfriend that I'm a witch?"

"Well, you're seventeen. Doesn't that mean you can do magic outside of school? Couldn't you use some spell to clear his memory?" she asked.

"Well, I could, but I'd get kicked out of school because he's a Muggle."

Mrs. Evans sighed. Sometimes, having daughters that hated each other could be a downright pain. "Well let's just see how the evening goes, all right?"

Lily nodded and retreated to her room. She hid all of her school things in her closet, just in case Petunia hadn't told Vernon what she was. She didn't want him to walk into her room during his little tour of the house to find a trunk full of spell books. Lily shoved her wand into the inside pocket of her jacket and went back downstairs. She found her mother in the kitchen, cooking.

"So what time is he supposed to be here?" she asked.

"In about an hour." Mrs. Evans said, without looking up from the salad she was tossing.

"Great." Lily said sarcastically. She moved to the living room and turned the television on again. She flipped through the channels searching for something half interesting to watch. Lily found a channel that was playing a movie about a girl named Dorothy on the run from a witch. The Wizard of Oz, it was called. She thought it would be interesting to see what Muggles thought witches were like, but was mortified however, when she saw that the so called 'witch' was green, cackling and supposedly "wicked".

"That's nothing like us!" She shouted at the screen. "How could someone even think that we're green?"

"What's all the yelling about, freak?" Petunia entered the room, smirking at Lily's obvious distress.

"That! I'm a witch. Do I look green to you?" she pointed first at the television screen, then at herself.

"You're skin may not be green, but I'm not too sure about your blood."

"Hey!" Lily shouted.

"Calm down, freak. I only came in here to tell you that Vernon will be here any minute and I don't want _you_," she sneered the word, "to ruin this evening. So no funny business." Petunia turned on her heel and marched off to the kitchen.

Lily huffed and shut off the television. She couldn't take any more of the despicable stereotypes against witches. They weren't all evil and they most certainly weren't green. Well, unless a potion or spell went horribly wrong, but that was beside the point.

The doorbell rang and she heard Petunia's flat feet pounding on the floor as her sister ran to open the door. "Vernon!" came the squeal as the door was opened.

Lily stood up and went into the front hallway and politely said hello to her sister's boyfriend. He glared at her and whispered something to Petunia. She nodded and Vernon turned to Lily.

"If you try to pull your stupid magic tricks on me, I'll crack your neck." He said menacingly.

Lily was shocked. "I- I don't know what you're talking about." Lily stuttered.

"Don't pull that, freak. He knows everything. I told him." Petunia said.

"You told him?" Lily shouted. "I could get kicked out of school, Petunia!"

Their parents came rushing into the hallway. "What's going on here?" Mr. Evans said, trying to be heard over the yelling.

"She told him! She told him I'm a witch!" Lily yelled.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans glared at their older daughter. "Petunia, we specifically asked you not to tell him anything." their mother scolded.

"Well, I'm not going to keep secrets from him." Petunia sniffed.

Lily screamed in frustration and stomped up the stairs to her room. She sat on her bed fuming. How could Petunia do this to her? She knew that her sister hated her, but this was low. When she had calmed down, she went back downstairs to join the others for dinner.

It was the longest dinner that Lily had ever had the misfortune to sit through. Petunia and Vernon took turns glaring at her and her parents refused to look at their daughters. When it was over, Lily helped with the dishes and went to bed. At least she had tomorrow to look forward to. Tomorrow, she would return to Hogwarts.

[A/N]: Please remember to review! :]


	5. Morning of Mourning

**Last Chance**

**Chapter Five: Morning of Mourning**

At midnight, two dark figures appear in the living room of the Evans's home.

James woke bright and early on the morning of September the first. He leapt out of bed, bounded across the hallway, and threw open Sirius's bedroom door. The door hit the wall with a deafening bang, causing Sirius to nearly jump out of his skin.

"Bloody hell, Prongs, could you be any louder?" Sirius said, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Ah, Padfoot, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I get to see Lily again today!"

Sirius sighed. "This is sick. Now get out so I can get ready to leave without having to listen to you blabbering about Evans all morning."

James stuck out his tongue and retreated to his own room before Sirius could react. Once he had gotten dressed and ready to leave before anyone else; he double checked his truck to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. He strode to his bedroom window and called out,"Artemis!"

A handsome tawny owl flew through the window and landed obediently on his master's arm. James walked to his desk. On it was perched a large golden bird cage. He opened the door and held it open as Artemis sidled into the cage and settled himself. When he was situated, James cast a levitation charm on the cage and sent it downstairs to the entrance hall. He did the same with his trunk before crossing the hall to knock politely on Sirius' door.

"Now why can't you knock nicely every time you decide to come barging into my room?" Sirius said sarcastically as he opened the door. James moved out of the way as Sirius floated his own trunk down the stairs.

"Where's Pip?" James asked, glancing around Sirius's room.

"Damn. I forgot I let him out last night." Pip was Sirius's barn owl.

Sirius went to his window and looked around. He caught sight of his owl and said, "Of course he's sitting there on the farthest branch of the nearest tree just to be obnoxious."

"You mean like you?" James sniggered.

"Why I oughta…" Sirius said shaking his fist jokingly. "Hey, Pip, come 'ere!" The bird slowly – oh so slowly – sidled along the branches until he reached the window, and flew straight to his cage. Sirius shut the door and sent the cage zooming down the stairs, much to the displeasure of caged owl.

"You know, Padfoot, the more you torture that owl, the less he's likely to obey you." James laughed.

"Yeah well, he's not really the obedient type anyway. At least he'll carry my mail. That's all I really need him for anyway." James shook his head as they reached the first floor landing. They made their way to the dining room for breakfast.

"Morning, Mum. Dad." James said as they entered the room. His parents were sitting at their usual places at the table. Mr. Potter's face was buried in this morning's issue of the Daily Prophet.

James glanced over his father's shoulder at the front page. The headline read: **MUGGLE MURDERED BY DEATHEATERS.**

"Did you have to work last night?" James asked.

"Yes."

"Well, who did they kill?"

Mr. Potter sighed, "James, you may want to sit down." James did as he was told and looked expectantly at his father. "The man's name was William Evans."

James froze. "Did he have a family?"

Mr. Potter nodded. "A wife and two daughters."

"Their names?" Sirius asked, catching on and sensing James's distress.

"I shouldn't tell you." Henry looked away.

"Dad, please? I have to know."

"All right then. His wife's name was Anna, and the two daughters were," he paused, "Petunia and Lily." He said grimly.

"No," James said, sinking lower in his chair. "my poor Lily flower."

"Oh, James, dear, it can't be helped. The Death Eaters are ruthless, and they have an unreasonable hatred for Muggles." Jane shook her head sadly.

"I hope Lily still comes to school. If she's not on the train, I'm going to go to her house the first chance I get."

It was silent for a few moments while they chewed their food. Then, breaking the silence, Sirius said, "Prongs, do you even know where Evans lives?"

"Possibly…" James winked.

When breakfast was finished, Mr. Potter called a Muggle taxi service for a large cab. They loaded Sirius and James's things into the boot with the exception of the owls. James was still distracted by the death of Lily's father as they climbed into the two backseats along with, much to the dismay of the cab driver, Artemis and Pip.

The ride to Kings Cross Station was nearly silent with the exception of the owls ruffling their feathers. James sat in the backseat, staring at the floor of the cab, hands intertwined in his lap. Sirius did not disturb his thoughts; he knew James was worried about Lily and nothing could possibly cheer him up except a smile on her face, which he knew would be an impossibility when they saw her. **If** they saw her. Sirius doubted that anyone could bring themselves to leave home the morning after a relative's death.

Near midnight, Lily was woken up by voices downstairs. She slipped out of bed and crept out her bedroom door to the top of the stairs.

"Let's get out of here. She's friends with Potter's son. Do you want him coming after us?" a sickly sweet voice said from the living room.

Lily heard a creak on the floorboards behind her and spun around to see her mother and sister. "Shh!" she said.

"What's going on? Your father just went downstairs because he thought he heard a burglar."

"Shh," Lily repeated, holding a finger to her lips. The three women resumed their eavesdropping.

"Can't we just kill them all?" another voice said, this one low and guttural.

Lily had to silence her mother and sister yet again as they gasped.

"No. We're supposed to be meeting with the Dark Lord. But because of you and your Muggle killing fetish, we're going to be late."

"Fine, fine! I'm coming."

There were two loud cracks as the intruders Disapparated. Lily slowly led the way downstairs with her wand draw and held aloft. The others followed behind her; all were thinking the same thing, and hoping they were wrong.

It took them what felt like hours to reach the living room, when in reality it was only a few seconds. The group stopped at the door and Lily paused, afraid of what she might find in the living room. Petunia shoved her forward and she stumbled into the room. Lily swept the room with a quick glance, immediately finding the one thing that she had hoped she would never see. There was her father, lying on the floor, and staring at the ceiling with wide lifeless eyes.

Mrs. Evans was the first to break down. She fell, sobbing, beside her deceased husband. Then Petunia began wailing, and Lily's shoulders shook slightly as silent tears slipped down her cheeks.

Then Petunia turned on Lily. "This all your fault, you freak!" she shouted, still sobbing, "If you weren't a…a…a witch," she spat the word as though it were something nasty, "Daddy wouldn't be dead!" She lashed out a Lily, clawing at her with her nails. Before she could do much damage, her mother grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away.

"Petunia, Don't you dare blame this on Lily! This is not her fault."

"Yes it is, Mum! How can you defend her? Those people that were here, they were like her!"

Just then there were multiple cracks as three people Apparated into the room. Petunia screamed and hid behind her mother and Lily turned her wand on the newcomers. Luckily she recognized one of them.

"Professor Dumbledore!" she gasped.

"Lily, please lower your wand; the Ministry has sent aurors to deal with this situation properly." he said calmly.

"Oh. Sorry." She lowered her wand.

The taller of the two aurors held out his hand, "Henry Potter, top auror at the Ministry of Magic, at your service." He had unruly black hair, and startlingly blue eyes that could nearly rival Dumbledore's. He looked oddly familiar…

"Please tell me you aren't James's father." Lily said.

Henry laughed and ran a hand through his hair. _Well now I know he's related to Potter,_ Lily thought to herself.

"As a matter of fact, I am. But don't worry, I know all about you, and I find his feelings a bit unorthodox." He laughed again. "But, once that boy commits to something, he won't stop until he reaches it."

Lily groaned, but shook his hand. The other auror was shorter and had a wooden leg. "Alastor Moody." He introduced himself.

Dumbledore addressed the Evans', "Please, you must cooperate with the Ministry if they are to catch the wizards that did this."

Petunia stuck her nose in the air and sniffed, "I'm not doing anything of the sort with _your_ lot."

Dumbledore turned to Mrs. Evans, "We need complete cooperation to arrest your husband's attackers." She nodded. Dumbledore inclined his head to Mr. Potter, "Please proceed with the questioning."

Mr. Potter gestured to the couch. "This may be easier on you if you sit down." The women sat on the couch while Moody went to examine Mr. Evans's body.

"Did any of you see what these wizards looked like?" Mr. Potter began.

Lily answered, "No, but we did hear them talking. It sounded like a man and a woman. And they mentioned something about meeting with the Dark Lord, whoever that is."

"Deatheaters." Henry said. "Can't they ever find anything else to do besides tormenting Muggles?"

"Deatheaters?" Mrs. Evans said.

"Yes. They're the followers of You-Know-"

Henry was cut off by Dumbledore. "Really now, Henry. I thought you, of all people, would not be afraid to say Voldemort's name."

"With all due respect Albus, I feel as though saying the name will bring him upon my family, and I don't know what I would do without Jane and James. Or Sirius for that matter."

"Naturally," Dumbledore said, a slight twinkle in his eye.

"Now then, did you hear any names? Anything that might help us pinpoint a particular Deatheater?"  
"No."

It was like that for an hour or two; Mr. Potter asking questions, and Lily answering most of them because her mother and sister were too upset and afraid to speak up.

As Mr. Potter prepared himself to Apparate home, he paused. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss. I'll do my utmost to get these two life sentences in Azkaban."  
"Thank you." Lily said, nodding. And with that, Henry Potter Disapparated.

Lily had woken up in her own bed, unable to remember how exactly she had gotten there. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she remembered the morning's events. She dragged herself out of bed and down to the kitchen to find her mother and Petunia sitting at the table in silence, sipping tea.

She poured herself a bowl of cereal and joined them at the table. Lily ate her breakfast slowly, not really tasting it.

They sat in silence for nearly half an hour, but what felt like much longer, before her mother broke the silence.

"Lily, do you still need a ride to the train station?"

"Yes."  
"You're still going to leave for that freak institution, even after Daddy was killed? What's wrong with you?" Petunia screeched. She threw Lily a venomous glare and stomped up the stairs to her room.

"So, you do plan on going to school?" her mother asked.

"I have to. It's my last year. If I want to graduate, I have to really apply myself this year. I can't not show up for school."

"Okay then. We'll have to leave in half an hour, so you'd better get ready to go."

Lily nodded and pushed her chair back. She put her dishes in the sink and climbed the stairs to her room. She showered and dressed quickly, double checking her trunk to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything important. After shrinking her trunk so that it would fit in her pocket, and locking Melina securely in her cage, she returned to the kitchen to get her mother to drive her to Kings Cross Station.

[A/N]: Reviews feel like Christmas.


	6. The Train

**Last Chance**

**Chapter Six: The Train**

Lily collapsed onto the seat as the Hogwarts Express slowly gained speed. She was finally on her way home. Lydia was sitting next to Lily, while Madeline and Daniela were seated across from them. They had read about her father's death in the _Daily Prophet_, and had already offered their condolences.

"So Lily," Daniela said, "how are you going to live with James all year?"

Lily groaned, "Don't remind me. I've been thinking though, and I suppose starting over would be a good idea."

"Starting over?" Lydia asked.

Lily nodded, "I thought about what you guys said about his changing and giving him a chance, and I figured that if I tried to be civil him, maybe this year wouldn't be so bad." Her friends nodded. "Well I should probably go and find Potter. We have to go over the patrols and all that." Lily stood, waved goodbye to the girls and left them behind in the small compartment.

James stole one last glance at the nearly vacant platform before turning dejectedly and boarding the scarlet steam engine. He plodded down the corridor to the second to last compartment and slid the door open, head hung low.

The three inhabitants looked up as they were joined by their fourth. Sirius frowned as James entered the small room and shut the door behind him.

"She wasn't there." Sirius said, voicing James's thoughts.

The bespectacled boy looked (if it was possible) even more miserable as he shook his head and slumped down onto the seat next to Remus.

"What about the prefect meeting?" Remus asked.

"What about it?"

"Well, if Lily isn't here, you have to direct the meeting yourself."

"Oh, no!" James slid himself off the seat. How was he supposed to direct a bunch of stuck up prefects on his own? No offense to Remus of course, but still. There would be Slytherins there. _Slytherins_! How was he supposed to get them to cooperate? "Lily, I need you!" he groaned loudly.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "This is getting sick." He said, smacking his hand to his face.

Suddenly the door slid back, causing the three seated Marauders to look up from their miserable friend.

"What is it now Potter?"

"Lily!" At the sound of her voice James leapt up, grabbed Lily and spun her around.

"Potter, put me down, please." she said.

James paused in their spinning and Lily steadied herself. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine. Why?" she said, her tone slightly suspicious.

"Lily, there's no way you're fine; your father was killed last night." he said, reaching for her shoulder.

"I'm _fine_." She stressed the word, and took a step back.

"Well, if you need anything you can come to us." James said. "Right guys?"

"Sure." Sirius said, unenthusiastically.

"Anytime." Remus nodded before turning to face Peter.

The small, rodent-like boy had been staring out the window at the passing farmland, not speaking. Sirius elbowed him the ribs. "Ow! Oh. Uh…right. Yeah, anytime." Peter said. He then turned and continued his staring.

"Okay then." said a somewhat uncomfortable Lily. "Anyway Potter, I came to get you for the meeting. We have a few things to discuss."

"Oh, right." James moved to the luggage rack and dug through his trunk. He pulled out a set of school robes and tugged them over his head. James pinned the shiny silver badge to his chest. "Ready." He said.

"Come on, then." Lily turned and waited for James to follow.

"See you at the meeting, Moony." He waved goodbye to his friends before following the redhead down the corridor.

Lily stopped in front of the largest compartment at the front of the train. "Here we are." She said as she opened the door and stepped into the compartment. James followed her in and shut the door behind him.

"All right, Potter, I have a few requests." Lily said situating herself in a chair facing James. He nodded for her to continue. "I think that we should start out fresh this year. Seeing as we'll be working together and sharing a common room we should try to get along."

"Lily, that's what I've been telling you since-"

She held up a finger to stop him. "I understand that now."

James smirked. "See, I was right."  
Lily sighed. "Yeah, yeah." She said, waving it off, "Also, I would appreciate it if you could at least _try_ to be mature this year. No funny business, no pranks. Do you think you can manage?"

"No pranks? But that's a Marauder tradition! What if we cut back on them? Would that be good enough?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. And no picking on first years!"

"Okay, okay, I wasn't going to anyway." James said, earning a disbelieving glare form Lily. "I have a request to make as well."

"Go on. And if it involves us going on a date, the answer is no."

"Who said anything about a date? All I want is for you to call me by my first name." he shrugged.

"Oh." Lily said, surprised. "Sure."

James grinned. "So what do you want to talk to the prefects about?"

Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She looked over it once before grabbing a quill and a piece of parchment from a nearby desk. "Well, first off, we have to draw up the patrol schedule. We can post it in the meeting room at school."

"Sounds good, but I think we should let the prefects sign up on their own. That way the patrols fit easily into everyone's schedules." James sat down in a chair next to Lily so that the long parchment was between them. He pulled out his wand and traced a few lines over the surface of the parchment.

Lily watched closely as ink flowed smoothly and elegantly across the smooth surface. When James finished, she saw that he had drawn a chart. Across the top were the days of the week and on the left were the patrol shifts. Under the days, there were spaces for each shift, to be filled in with the names of the prefects who would see to them. "Nicely done, James." She said giving him an actual smile.

James's heart leapt; it was first real smile she had ever given him. "Thanks." He said, beaming.

Lily glanced at the chart. "So, we'll have each prefect write in their name for the shifts that they want." James nodded. "Good. We can explain that to them when they get here in," she checked her watch, "twenty minutes."

"Anything else that we have to sort out before they get here?" James asked.

"Nothing really. What about dances and things of that nature? I was thinking we could have one for Valentine's Day."

"Yeah, me too. But I was also thinking we could have one for Halloween."

Lily grinned. "Excellent. The Halloween dance could be a masquerade ball."

The pair continued to make vague plans for the upcoming school year until they heard a light cough from the door. Remus poked his head around the corner. "I do believe I'm here for the meeting." He said formally.

James laughed, "Get in here Moony."

Remus entered the compartment followed closely by Lydia, the second Gryffindor prefect. "Hey guys." She said. Remus turned and gave her one of his inviting smiles causing her to blush crimson. She looked away in embarrassment.

Another knock sounded on the door before it was pushed open roughly by the two Slytherin prefects, Severus Snape and Marco Jamison.

"What are you doing here Potter?" Snape spat.

"You should show more respect to the Head Boy, Snape." James glared at the tall, pale boy that stood in the door. Severus Snape had shoulder length, greasy, black hair and cold eyes. Marco Jamison was the complete opposite. He had scruffy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a friendly smile. One would expect him to be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw; anything but Slytherin. It was common knowledge that Marco himself believed that the sorting hat had made some mistake on his first night at Hogwarts.

"Hello Potter." Marco said cheerfully.

"Hey, how was your holiday?" James had a strict hate-all-Slytherins policy, but he made an exception when it came to Marco.

"Nothing special. I got a new owl though. What about you?"  
James laughed, "Not much. Sirius was at my house all summer, so naturally there were quite a few practical jokes."

Remus, Lily and Lydia had been having their own conversation on the other side of the compartment, but now Lily stared, dumbstruck, at James. She had never seen him be civil with a Slytherin before. But then again, this was Marco Jamison. He was nice boy; well-liked and friendly to everyone.

The two Hufflepuff prefects, Margo Henderson and Jude Little entered the room. followed by Samuel Darcy and Elizabeth Green, the Ravenclaws.

James and Lily stood at the front of the room and waited for the eight prefects to seat themselves around the room. When everyone was settled, James cleared his throat. "Hello, and welcome to the first prefect meeting of the new school year." Everyone but Snape nodded.

Lily stepped forward, "Now, James and I have decided that everyone should sign up for patrol duties this year rather than us assigning them to you. This way, your shifts will not interfere with your school work or extracurricular activities."

Jude raised his hand, "What about Quidditch? Will it interfere with practices?"

"No. If your captain schedules a practice session during one of your shifts all you need to do is come to one of us and we will find another prefect that can take over your duties until practice is over." James said. Jude looked relieved. "However, if you do not sign yourselves up for at least two patrols per week, dates and times will be assigned to you and will not be changed if they interfere with your studies or activities." James looked pointedly at Snape.

"Our next meeting will be in two weeks and you will be notified of the time next Saturday. The patrol chart is on the wall by the door, please sign up on your way out."

The prefects stood and formed a line in front of the chart. Lily turned to James, "Do you think our first meeting went well?"

"Definitely." He nodded, "I think we have some great ideas and the prefects this year are great. Well, except Snape, but he doesn't really count."

Lily shook her head and glanced over to the chart. The line had disappeared. "Come on. Let's get back to our compartments. I think we're nearly there, so we should probably get changed." She turned and made her way out of the empty room, James in tow.

And Lily was right. The train arrived in Hogsmeade not half an hour later. The Marauders stepped onto the platform followed by Lily, Lydia, Madeline and Daniela. The large group found the biggest carriage they could and squeezed themselves in. Lily ended up squished against James's side as the thestral drawn carriage pulled away from the platform and began the steep ascent to the Hogwarts castle gates.

[A/N]: Reviews make Becca happy. A happy writer makes for faster updates. Hint, hint. ;]


	7. Common

**Last Chance**

**Chapter Seven: Common**

Lily hated herself. She hated herself and her resolve to be nicer to James. What did it matter if she ignored him all year? It's not like it would affect her in the long run. It's not like she was ever going to see him again after the school year ended.

The carriage went over a bump in the road causing its inhabitants to be jostled around. Lydia slid into Remus, who in turn fell against Lily, who (much to her dissatisfaction) fell quite literally into James's lap. She pushed herself away from him, crossed her arms, and turned her head in the opposite direction.

James laughed. "You know, Lily, you're even cuter when you're angry." She glared at him. "And for no good reason, I might add."

Lily stuck out her tongue. Juvenile. "I have a very good reason, thank you very much."

"Oh, really? What is that?" James leaned his head against his hand and looked at her expectantly.

By now, the others had started to pay attention to James and Lily's conversation. They too watched her, waiting for an answer.

"Well…um…" Lily knew she didn't really have a reason. She never did. Never had.

"Exactly." James said, his point made.

The rest of the carriage ride passed quietly. The eight passengers watched in silence as they approached the school.

When their carriage stopped at the foot of the stairs that lead to the castle, the group disembarked. Lily was unhappy with the fact that James offered to help her down from the carriage. She was even more unhappy that she accepted his offer. And utterly appalled that, when he took her hand, she felt a slight flutter in her stomach.

They were carried into the Great Hall by the throng of students flowing through its doors. The hall was decorated as it usually was, the houses's banners hung above their tables, and the empty plates and goblets sat, waiting. The staff, with the exception of Hagrid, the game keeper, and Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor house and the Transfigurations teacher, sat at the high table at the end of the hall.

James and Sirius led the Gryffindor students to their table and took their seats. The marauders sat on one side of the table and the girls sat across from them. Lily of course found that the only open seat was across from James. _Figures, _she thought bitterly.

When the mass of students had settled into their seats, the doors of the Great Hall burst open. Every head turned toward the doors as forty small children nervously edged into the room led by Professor McGonagall. The first years followed McGonagall to the front of the room where she placed a four-legged stool and an old wizard's hat in front of the high table.

McGonagall stepped back as the hat began to sing:

_I may not be young or new,_

_but a wise old hat I am._

_I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat;_

_I can outsmart any man._

_Just place me on your head_

_and very soon we'll see_

_in which house you might belong,_

_and where you ought to be._

_Perhaps you'll be in Gryffindor,_

_where dwell the brave and chivalrous._

_Or perhaps in Ravenclaw,_

_where ready minds make progress._

_You may belong in Hufflepuff_

_where patience is a virtue._

_Or yet maybe in Slytherin_

_where the cunning will be nurtured._

_Just pick me up; don't be afraid!_

_I've not been known to bite._

_Just let me look inside your mind._

_I know which choice is right._

The hat fell silent as claps and whistles echoed through the hall. The first years looked relieved that all they had to do was try on a hat.

McGonagall stepped up to the stool and unfurled a roll of parchment. "When I call your name," she said, "you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." The new students shifted a bit closer together. "Aarons, Michael!" She called.

A small boy with long dark hair stepped forward and slowly sat down on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat upon his head and stepped back. Michael Aarons sat, shivering slightly, on the three legged stool, waiting for the hat to come to a decision.

He only had to wait a moment before the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

McGonagall removed the hat form the boy's head and he hopped off the stool. Michael trotted over to the Gryffindor table to a din of claps and hollers from his new house-mates. He walked along the side of the table and took a seat next to Peter.

James leaned around Sirius and Remus, and extended his hand to the newcomer. "Welcome to Gryffindor, Aarons."

"Thanks." He said.

"I'm James Potter," James said, "and this is Lily Evans." He gestured to Lily who gave a friendly smile. "We're Head Boy and Girl; if you need anything you can come to us or a prefect." He nodded to Remus and Lydia.

Remus offered Michael his hand, "Hello, I'm Remus Lupin." Michael nodded.

"And I'm Lydia. We're the Gryffindor prefects." Lydia grinned.

The rest of the group introduced themselves and turned their attention back to the sorting.

"Tonks, Nymphadora!" said McGonagall.

The scrawny little girl grimaced at the sound of her name. She stalked over to the stool, her appearance earning her many surprised looks. She had royal blue hair with piercing yellow eyes.

Nymphadora sat on the stool and crossed her arms. McGonagall lowered the hat to her head.

The sorting hat had hardly even touched her head before it shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius grinned as the little girl approached them. "Hey, Nymphadora!" he yelled.

She looked up and glared at Sirius. "Sirius Black!" she shouted, her hair simultaneously turning an unnatural shade of red. She ran over to them and smacked Sirius upside the head.

"Is that any way to treat your cousin?" Sirius said

"It is when he's an idiot." She muttered.

James looked at the girl curiously. "Tonks, right?" he turned to Sirius, "As in your metamorphmagus cousin?"

Sirius laughed. "Yup. Pain in the ass if you ask-" but he was cut off by another smack. "Ow!"

"So these must be your friends." Tonks said, looking around. "I really don't know what you lot see in him." Sirius glared, earning laughs from the rest of the group. "Oh, you know I'm only kidding, Sirius." Her hair slowly changed to a bubblegum pink.

Sirius grumbled something that sounded like, "You'd better be."

Nymphadora sat down between Sirius and Remus, and once again their attention was on the sorting as "Ulrich, Sarah!" became a Hufflepuff.

Next up was "Wilkins, Jonathan!" who became a Slytherin. Then finally "Zoran, Myra!" was sent to the Ravenclaw table. McGonagall rolled up the parchment, collected the stool and the Sorting Hat, and left the hall again.

"Every year it seems as though the sorting ceremony gets faster." Daniela sighed.

Michael gasped as tons of food suddenly appeared on the empty dishes before them. "How the-"

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"Where did the food come from?" He had been alarmed by the appearance of the food.

"Oh." James chuckled, "The house elves sent it up from the kitchen. It's directly below us you know."

"But how?"

Sirius looked at the boy, confused. "Are you a Muggle born?" he asked.

"I'm not sure." Michael scratched his head.

"How can you not be sure?" Madeline said

"Well, just after I was born my dad left my mom. She isn't a witch but I don't know anything about my father. He could have been a wizard, but I'll never know."

"Maybe Dumbledore could help you find him." Remus suggested.

Lily nodded, "Yeah, James and I could take you up to his office sometime this week."

"Really?"

"Sure." James shrugged.

"Thanks!" Michael grinned and began to load his plate with food. Sirius's mouth was already stuffed full of peas and mashed potatoes.

The group quickly learned to call Nymphadora by her surname rather than her first name, because every time she was called Nymphadora she glared and her hair grew a bit redder.

When everyone had eaten their fill, Professor Dumbledore stood and gave a small speech. He told the students that Quidditch tryouts would be held in two weeks's time, and that Dungbombs had been added to the list of forbidden items that Filch, the caretaker, had nailed to his office door.

"Yeah, And we're the reason that three quarters of that list exists." Sirius laughed.

"I would like to introduce the Head Boy and Girl for this school year. Would you please stand for us Mr. James Potter and Miss Lily Evans?" Dumbledore said, turning his clear blue gaze on them. He clapped as James and Lily rose from their seats, stood for a moment and then sat back down.

"I do believe that it is now time for bed. Prefects please show the first years the way to their appropriate common rooms and dormitories. Off to bed!" Dumbledore turned away from the high table, made his way down a small set of stairs and over to the Gryffindor table.

"Hello Professor." Lily said when he reached them.

"Professor Dumbledore." James held out his hand as he always did, and Dumbledore shook it.

Professor Dumbledore led Lily and James up numerous moving staircases to the third floor and stopped in front of a stone gargoyle.

"Non proditor." Dumbledore said. The statue jumped aside, revealing a doorway and a spiral stone staircase.

Lily and James followed Dumbledore through the arch and onto the stairs. The staircase spiralled upward, taking its passengers up to the Headmaster's office.

Once inside the office Dumbledore motioned to the two chairs that sat waiting before his desk. "Please, sit." He said kindly before taking a seat behind the great desk. Lily and James did as they were told.

"Is there anything you wish to discuss before you assume your duties?" Dumbledore asked.

"No sir." James said.

Lily raised her hand slightly. "Actually, I'd like to know why you chose us."

Dumbledore settled back in his chair and laced his fingers together. "There is much that I cannot yet tell you. I know that you hate to hear it, but you will know in time, when you are ready. What I can tell you is that Voldemort is on the rise, and his Death Eaters are moving into the open. They are killing anyone and everyone that stands in their way. One of the many reasons that I have chosen the two of you to serve as Head Boy and Girl is because that, in the event that the school is attacked, I believe that you will do what is right for both the school and the students."

James nodded gravely, "Absolutely. We'll do everything we can to help."

Dumbledore looked to Lily, who nodded in agreement. "Good. Now I have a proposal for you. There is an organization called the Order of the Phoenix; we work against Voldemort. I wondered if you might like to join.

Lily needed no further explanation. "I'll join," she said immediately. James too was eager to join the fight against the coming darkness.

"Now, one last thing. Do you think that any of your friends would like to join the Order?"

"Ha," James said, "Sirius and Remus will, definitely. But I'm not sure about Peter. He seems a bit…off, lately."

"I'm sure that Madeline, Lydia and Daniela will want to. I might even be able to recruit Alice and Frank."

"Excellent. If they wish to join please bring them here on Wednesday night at six o'clock."

"Yes, sir." Lily and James said together.

Dumbledore smiled and fixed James with an amused gaze, "About the Gryffindor Quidditch team, will we be winning the Cup again this year?"  
James grinned. "Absolutely, Professor. The team will be practicing at the very least twice a week. I've already scheduled tryouts, and I'll be posting the schedule in the common room tomorrow morning."

"That's what I like to hear."

James and Lily rose from their seats and bid the headmaster goodnight. Lily had already stepped onto the staircase when Dumbledore called out to James.

"Yes, Professor?" James said as he turned back.

Dumbledore was standing behind him. He placed his hands on James's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "We must always listen to our hearts; even the paths they take are painful. Do not give up.

"I understand." James said.

"Goodnight." Dumbledore said before turning and re-entering his office.

James turned slowly and made his way down the stairs. Lily was waiting at the bottom, looking impatient. "Come on. I'd like to get some kind of sleep before classes start tomorrow."

James nodded and followed her through the corridors to their new dormitories.

When they first set foot in the common room, Lily gasped; James grinned. The large circular room was decorated entirely in Gryffindor colours. There were Gryffindor and Hogwarts banners all around the walls. There were two extremely comfortable scarlet chairs and a scarlet sofa in front of a grand fireplace. The soft carpet was golden and above the fireplace was a painting of Godric Gryffindor.

"Wow." Lily breathed.

"What do they do when the head students are from different houses?" James wondered aloud.

They crossed the room and climbed a spiral staircase that took them up to a balcony that overlooked the common room. At either end of the balcony was a door, and each door had a plaque. The door to the right said 'Lily' and under her name was a carving of a beautiful calla lily. The door on the right read 'James' and had a carving of a quaffle with the Gryffindor lion etched into it.

"Goodnight, James." Lily said as she reached for the doorknob. But she was stopped by a hand on her wrist.

James spun her around and pushed her up against the door. He leaned in as if to kiss her but instead, he whispered in her ear. "I'm not giving up on you, Lily. I'll never give up." He let go of her and she turned around to face him.

"James, I-" But he was already gone, leaving Lily alone on the balcony, her heart pounding so hard that she thought for sure that it might just explode from her chest.

[A/N]: You all know that I love reviews, so please leave me a few. :]


	8. A First for Everything

**Last Chance**

**Chapter Eight: A First for Everything**

Wednesday night came quickly. James had spoken to Sirius Remus, and Peter, and they had agreed to attend the meeting with Dumbledore, but Peter hadn't seemed as keen to join the Order as the others had been. Lily had convinced Daniela, Madeline, and Lydia to go, as well as Alice Prewett and Frank Longbottom.

They trooped up to the third floor and gave the gargoyle the password. Lily's friends gasped as the statue sprung to life and hopped aside so they could pass; the Marauders seemed unfazed.

"Exactly how many times have you been up here?" Maddie whispered to Sirius.

"Oh about," he thought for a moment, "forty-seven times."

Maddie laughed.

"And that's only when we've gotten in trouble." he added.

They reached the immense double doors that lead to the headmaster's office, and James reached out a fist and knocked on the door a few times.

Dumbledore's voice echoed from within the office. "Entre,"

The doors opened, and once the group was inside, they shut again with a dull thud.

"Welcome." Dumbledore said merrily from behind his desk. "Please, sit." Lily noticed then that there were now ten chairs on their side of the desk.

When everyone was seated and comfortable, Dumbledore folded his hands in front of him and said, "Thank you all for coming. I trust Miss Evans and Mr. Potter explained the purpose of this meeting?"

James and Lily nodded.

"Good." Dumbledore continued. "Now, I want you to realize that by joining the Order of the Phoenix you will be risking your lives. If you are unsure about joining our ranks, please desist. I do not want you in harm's way if you do not wish to be." He glanced pointedly at Peter. "Now, those of you that wish to join us, please sign this parchment." Dumbledore waved his wand and an ornate scroll appeared on the desk. It seemed blank but when James lowered his quill to sign at the top, the point of the quill would not touch the parchment.

"More toward the middle of the page James." Dumbledore said. James moved his quill halfway down the page, "There is fine." James nodded and signed his name.

"Er, why didn't it show up?" Sirius asked, confused.

James glanced at the scroll. "What are you talking about, Padfoot? It's right there."

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Your turn, Miss Evans."

He indicated where she should sign, and Lily gasped as James's name appeared in perfect cursive above her own signature, along with the names of many others.

"Brilliant," she whispered.

"Why, thank you, Lily." Dumbledore smiled. "My own invention. Only those that have already signed can see the names of the Order's members. And, so that the previous signers' names are not obliterated, I have charmed the parchment so that it does not allow one to sign over the name of another."

James took a second glance at the parchment and noticed that he could now see thirty signatures above his own.

"Me next!" Sirius said as he took the quill from Lily, who rolled her eyes. Remus signed after Sirius followed by Lydia, Madeline, Daniela, Frank, and Alice. Peter was the last to sign, and he did so very slowly, as if he were unsure about his decision.

"The last order of business," Dumbledore said, "is to give you all your badges." He rose from his desk and in a flash he was standing before James's chair. "Hold out your hand please, Mr. Potter." James held his hand out to the Headmaster. Dumbledore placed the tip of his wand in James's palm and for a moment nothing happened. Then, slowly, something silver began to materialize in James's hand. When Dumbledore moved his wand away from, there was a small metal object where it had been touching the skin. James picked it up and turned it so that it caught the light of one of the burning torches on the wall. It was a tiny silver phoenix.

Dumbledore did the same with the rest of the new Order members. "Now, I want you to keep these badges on your person at all times, but you must keep them out of sight. When there is a meeting the badges will become cold, and they will turn blue. All meetings will begin at ten o'clock in the evening. When the badge changes colour, you will have exactly one hour before you are automatically transported to the location of our meeting, because it works as a portkey as well. If you are needed for anything else Order-related, the badge will burn red. If ever that should happen, you are to report here, to my office, before you go anywhere else. Do you all understand that?"

Ten heads nodded.

"Excellent. Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix. You may return to your common rooms now. Goodnight." Dumbledore stood by the door and shook their hands as they walked by and stepped onto the spiral staircase.

At the gargoyle James and Lily split away from their friends and headed for the Heads' dormitories.

Two weeks seemed to fly by as the students settled into the familiar lives of studying and Quidditch. Lily was amazed that she had actually caught glimpses of James studying for their charms class.

James and Lily had fallen into a strange pattern of waiting for each other in the mornings, and going to breakfast together. Their friends – and the rest of the school, teachers included – were amazed that they had not yet had a fight. Lily was trying to be friendly without getting too close to James. She could still feel her heartbeat quicken unexpectedly whenever he came within two feet of her.

And on Saturday morning, they did the same thing. When Lily stepped out of her room, ready for the weekend, James was there. He was leaning casually against the railing, staring down at the common room below. When Lily shut her door behind her James quickly turned to face her. "Morning, Lils." he said gleefully with one of his crooked grins.

"Morning," Lily said. She was preoccupied with what she had just seen. When James had turned to greet her she had noticed that his eyes seemed a bit duller. It was as if some great inner conflict was raging behind them.

She quickly shook the thought from her mind, and followed James down the stairs and all the way to the Great Hall, where they took their seats among their friends.

"Breakfast!" Sirius said as he came in and plopped himself down on the bench next to James.

"Quidditch tryouts!" James said, thinking that Sirius might have forgotten.

"Damn." James had been correct. "Hey Moony, are you going to try out this year?" Sirius asked.

"I don't think so." Remus shook his head. He never bothered trying out for the house Quidditch team, because he always considered himself the bookish Marauder, and thought that it would be best to leave the athletic business to James and Sirius.

"Why not?" Sirius pouted.

"Please, you've seen me fly. I'm probably worse than Wormtail!"

Everyone at the table snorted with laughter.

"What about you Lily?" James said. Lily noticed that his eyes were still dull.

"I think I'll leave the flying to Maddie." she laughed.

After breakfast Sirius, James, and Madeline trudged off to the locker rooms to change into their Quidditch robes. The others made their way to the Quidditch pitch to watch the tryouts. They may not have been joining the team, but they still wanted to watch the tryouts (and occasionally laugh at the hopefuls' failed attempts to impress James, the captain).

The five of them settled into the stands just as the current team members filed onto the field. James had apparently magnified his voice so that it could be heard loud and clear by those at the back of the exceedingly large crowd of people that had gathered on the field, because a moment later he could be heard throughout the stadium. "IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER OF GRYFFINDOR HOUSE, PLEASE LEAVE THE FIELD." Lily broke into a fit of laughter as twelve Ravenclaw students (mostly girls), ten Hufflepuffs (also mostly girls) and three Slytherin girls began giggling hysterically, grabbed their brooms and happily left the field to join those in the stands.

"FIRST YEARS PLEASE LEAVE THE QUIDDITCH PITCH, AS WELL." He seemed somewhat annoyed as what seemed like all of the Gryffindor first years retreated to the stands. "NOW, THOSE OF YOU THAT ARE LEGITIMATELY ABLE TO TRYOUT, PLEASE SEPARATE INTO GROUPS: CHASERS BY THE FAR GOAL POSTS, BEATERS BY THE NEAR GOAL POSTS, KEEPERS BY THE LOCKER ROOM AND SEEKERS BY ME."

There was a great rumbling of feet as the somewhat smaller crowd separated into four groups. Obviously, the seekers would be tried first. The last seeker had been a seventh year and had moved on to the "real world" as the adults would have put it. James released the snitch and timed each hopeful while they searched for and caught the small golden ball. In the end, the one with the best time was Riley O'Malley, and she was chosen for the team and given a set of Gryffindor Quidditch robes.

Next up were the chasers. Sirius tried out first (James thought that it was unfair to automatically keep previous team members when there may be other, even better, players out there that deserved a chance). There were only two chaser positions open on the team because James himself was a chaser. When the last hopeful had completed their task, James chose Sirius and a small third year by the name of Thomas was kept as the Gryffindor keeper, and two muscular fifth years called Billy Roman and Jeffery Lowe were chosen to be the new beaters.

After the tryouts the newly picked Gryffindor Quidditch team left for the locker room to receive a pep talk from James, and the immense crowd in the stands, and those left on the field, made their way back to the school.

Later that night Lily and James returned to their common room after two long hours of patrolling. James was fighting with his own mind. _Kiss her, damn it! _it said forcefully. _What if it only makes her hate me again? _

_ Hello? Don't you remember what Dumbledore told you on your first night back? He told you not to give up. _

_ I suppose you have a point. But-_

"James?"

He startled slightly. "Hmm?"

Lily was growing increasingly worried about James. "You've been a bit," she paused, searching for the right word, "distant lately. Is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" James decided it would be best to follow his heart as Dumbledore had told him. "Why would anything be wrong? I've spent almost seven years chasing after you and we've only just progressed to being friends. I love you, Lily, and I'm afraid that being just friends isn't good enough for me." He said sadly.

Unfortunately, James telling her his troubles did nothing for her nerves. "Oh, come on, James," she said nervously, "I'm not that great."

"See, that's another problem Lils. You don't even see your own worth, so you'll never be able to see mine. At this rate we'll always be just friends." James turned his back on Lily.

She reached out to touch his shoulder, but before she knew it James had her back pressed up against the wall. "I can't take this anymore." His voice was low, a growl, but not threatening.

"James I-" Lily was cut off abruptly by the force of James's lips upon her own. Unintentionally, her eyes closed. Lily hated to admit it, but James was an excellent kisser, and she was slightly disappointed when he pulled away.

"I can't." he said. Lily watched as he climbed the stairs. From the butterflies in her stomach Lily knew that this was all her fault.

"I love you, too." She mouthed to his retreating back.

[A/N]: Review, please. :]


	9. The Letter

**Last Chance**

**Chapter Nine: The Letter**

"Maddie, it's getting worse." Lily said as she shut the door behind her. Madeline had agreed to meet her in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory for a chat.

"What do you mean? Your feelings, or your relationship?" Maddie threw herself onto her bed and patted the space next to her, inviting Lily to join her

Lily sighed. "Both," she sat down on the bed and crossed her legs, "I really do love him, but I don't know how to say it without making myself look like a complete jerk. And he won't even look me in the eye anymore!"

It had been two weeks since James had kissed Lily in the common room, and he had ultimately been avoiding any contact whatsoever. He had even switched his patrol schedule with Remus so that he wouldn't have to be alone with Lily.

"Maybe – if he'll listen to us that is – Dani, Lydia and I can get him to talk to you again."

"And how on earth are you going to do that? I don't blame him if he never wants to speak to me again." Lily hung her head.

"Isn't that one of the problems here?"

"What?"

Madeline rolled her eyes and sat up to look Lily straight in the eye, "You said that James said that you don't see your own worth, so you'll never be able to see his. You have _got_ to gain some confidence."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't get defensive; you know it's true." Madeline scolded, "You're absolutely brilliant, gorgeous, fair, responsible, and reliable. What more could a guy ask for? Seriously, if I had all of that, Sirius would probably be wrapped around my pinky." She laughed, "Come on Lils, can't you see that?"

Lily looked down again, "I guess. But what if I mess everything up? What if-"

Madeline held her hands up, "Stop. You're everything James wants, and he's everything you want. So stop doubting yourself, and let us try to talk to him. Okay?"

"Fine, but if he refuses to talk to me, don't push it. I don't want to upset him anymore."

"Deal." Madeline jumped up from her bad and walked to the door. "I'm off to find the girls so we can get to work on this scheme." She winked and then raced out the door. "See you at lunch!" she called back over her shoulder.

Lily sighed. Whatever happened to breakfast? She didn't exactly approve of her friends skipping meals to help her. She grabbed her bag and made her may down to the Great Hall.

At the Gryffindor table, Lily seated herself next to Remus and sighed.  
"What's wrong, Lily? James still not talking to you?"  
Lily nodded.  
"Don't worry. If I know James, and I do, he won't be able to stay away from you for much longer." he chuckled.  
"But what if he can?"  
"Not likely. He-" but just what James was, Lily never found out. At that moment, James and Sirius meandered into the hall and sat down at the other end of the table, followed closely by Madeline, Daniela, and Lydia. They were arguing and Lily could see that her friends were losing.

_Great. Now he'll think I'm some desperate fool_, she thought miserably.  
There was a great racket as the owls flew into the windows, screeching, dropping mail, and landing on tables. The air had already been cleared of the birds when another shrill screech echoed through the hall. A gray owl soared through the window, gaining the attention of everyone in the great hall. The owl carried two letters bearing the insignia of the Ministry of Magic. It flew first to the headmaster's chair and dropped the first of the two letters onto Professor Dumbledore's morning toast. It waited patiently while Dumbledore scanned the letter, scribbled a short reply on the back of the parchment, and retied the letter to the owl's leg. Then, the ministry owl flew the length of the Gryffindor table – all eyes were still on the bird – and dropped the second letter onto James Potter's empty plate.  
From the look on James's face it was an entirely unexpected letter. He whispered something to Sirius, who shrugged. All eyes were now on James and the letter he held in his hands. He tore open the envelope and began to read the letter, a small frown pulling down the corners of his mouth. All of a sudden, James dropped the letter, howling in agony as if the parchment had burned his hands. He pushed himself away from the table and stumbled blindly toward the doors that led to the entrance hall.  
Sirius jumped up from his seat, as did Lily. "James!" he shouted.  
He snatched the letter from the table and Lily was behind him in a flash. "What is it?" she whispered.  
Sirius turned around to face her and Lily was startled to see that there were tears pouring down his face. "Read." He croaked and then slumped back onto the bench.  
Lily lowered her gaze to the yellowish parchment. It read:

_Dear Mr. Potter,  
_

_At precisely three forty-two this morning, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named entered your residence at Godric's Hollow. A neighbour, Mr. Leonard Toadstool, saw what he believed at the time to be a death eater entering the house and contacted the Ministry.  
The Ministry dispatched a team of aurors, who reached Godric's Hollow at three forty-six. A duel was already underway between your father and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself. _

_It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that during this duel, both your mother and father were hit by the killing curse. We, at the Ministry of Magic, are terribly sorry for your loss and hope that it is some consolation that your father, Henry Potter, has been awarded the Order of Merlin, first class.  
A ceremony will be held in your parents' honour on the tenth of November at the Ministry of Magic. _

_Take care,_

_Timothy Rimmond_

_Ministry of Magic_

"Oh my god." Lily said, "James's parents."

Sirius nodded sadly. "They were the only family he had."

Lily re-read the letter before folding it up and putting it into her bag. "I have to find him." she said.  
Sirius looked up, "He'll probably be out in the forest somewhere. That, or the Shrieking Shack."

"The Shrieking Shack?"  
"It's a long story." Sirius said.  
Lily put it out of her mind momentarily and asked, "Are you coming, Sirius?"  
He shook his head, "No, I think he needs you right now. Not me."  
Lily nodded, and made her way out of the great hall and onto the school grounds

James couldn't believe it. His parents were gone. His entire world was falling apart.  
He raced toward the Forbidden Forest, the wind drying his tears and making his eyes burn. As he reached the edge of the trees, James transformed into a stag and continued his flight on four legs.

Within minutes, he reached a clearing deep within the dark forest. James flopped to the ground and lowered his head to his forelegs. He sighed and shut his eyes, hoping that when he woke up, it would all have been a dream.

Lily knocked on the door to Dumbledore's office.  
"Come in Miss Evans." Dumbledore said.  
She opened the door and found the headmaster sitting at his desk. "Professor, I-"

Dumbledore held up his hand, "In answer to the questions that I know you are going to ask: yes, I know about the tragedy that has befallen young Mr. Potter, and yes, you may look for him."

"Thank you, sir." Lily said. "Should I send him to you when I find him?"  
"If he wishes to speak with me, he knows where to find me. However, I believe that I am not the person he needs most right now." He raised his silver eyebrows and looked pointedly at Lily.  
Lily nodded. "Do you have any idea where he might be? Sirius said that James would most likely have gone into the forest or the Shrieking Shack."

Dumbledore leaned forward and intertwined his fingers, "My first guess would be the forest, only because he and his friends have an affinity for the freedom that it offers them."

Lily sighed. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be going into the Dark Forest despite the fact that it was still early in the day. She had heard too many stories of werewolves and other uninviting creatures that inhabited the forest.

"Do not worry, Lily. The creatures of the forest have already been warned that any attack on a Hogwarts student will result in the worst possible punishment. I have no doubt that you will find him, and when you do, please remind him that tonight is a full moon."

Twenty minutes later, Lily was standing next to the gamekeeper's cottage, facing the trees. She shivered slightly as a cool breeze snatched at her hair. _James had better be in there_, she thought, _If I get eaten by some wild animal I swear I'll come back to haunt him. _

Lily squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and walked quickly into the shade of the looming trees. She stopped again under the canopy of the ancient trunks and pulled her wand out of her school bag. "Lumos." she whispered and was comforted when the warm glow from the tip of her wand illuminated the path at her feet. She walked on, listening carefully for anything out of the ordinary.

She wasn't entirely sure how long she had been wandering when she passed a familiar-looking tree, deep within the Forbidden Forest.

_Great_, Lily thought, _I think I've been going in circles._ She examined the trunk of the tree. About six feet from the ground, the wood was marked by long, thin grooves, as if antlers had been scraped across the surface of the bark. _What could have done that? I've never heard of any deer in the Dark Forest…_

Lily was startled from her thoughts by a rustling of leaves somewhere behind her. She turned on her heel and held her wand aloft, allowing its pale light to spread and engulf the bushes on the opposite side of the path. She held her breath and waited, hoping that whatever was on the other side of those bushes was James and not a werewolf.

A shrill scream pierced the air, ripping James from his dreamless sleep. He shook his head, confused by its heaviness, before remembering the letter and his flight into the forest.

The scream sounded again.

_Lily?_ he thought. A third scream reached his ears and he leapt to his feet and raced off through the trees, searching for the origin of the commotion.

It took him only moments to find Lily. She had her back pressed against a tree with her wand held out in front of her face, and she was surrounded by centaurs wielding crossbows. Every arrow was trained on Lily  
The chief of the centaurs stepped forward and addressed Lily, "What brings you into our forest, human?"

"I-I'm only looking for my friend." she stuttered back.

"So there are more of you hiding amongst our trees." he muttered. The chief was the largest of the centaurs, dappled gray with a charcoal mane. He held up hand, "Fire on my command." he said to the others.

A bay centaur stepped forward, "But Flax, it is against our laws to harm a foal, and we were told not to harm any of the students."

"Fool," Flax said, "she is no foal. This human has already come of age. And I do not take orders from men."

"Yes, I'm sorry, sir." The other centaur said, bowing his head and returning to his place among the ranks.

Flax cleared his throat, "On the count of three, then. One, two-"

James tore through the bushes, shoving centaurs aside with his antlers. He skidded to a halt in front of Lily and begged with his eyes for her to allow him to carry her safely out of the forest.

Lily stretched out a hand and touched the stag's antlers. _Well, now I know what happened to the tree_, she thought, _but why do I feel like I know him?_

James stamped his hoof impatiently, it would only be a matter of seconds before the centaurs regrouped and killed them both.

Lily clambered awkwardly onto the stag's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. The animal reared and charged forward, pushing through another wall of centaurs.  
They raced toward the edge of the forest, slowing only when they could no longer hear the centaurs' angry shouts behind them.

[A/N]: Super-fantastic reviews would be greatly appreciated. :]


	10. The Marauders' Great Secret

**Last Chance**

**Chapter Ten: The Marauders' Great Secret**

The stag had already carried Lily to the edge of the lake by the time Lily's brain processed what had just happened. She had been in the Forbidden Forest, searching for James when she was ambushed by centaurs. Then this animal came out of nowhere and whisked her away. There was something in the beast's eyes that seemed familiar, and it calmed her frayed nerves. She looked at the sky and noticed that it had already gotten dark. _It must be really late_, she thought. Her stomach growled in agreement.

The stag sat down slowly and Lily slid to the ground with a gentle _thud_. She smiled at it. "My hero."

Lily sat next to the stag, absentmindedly stroking its warm neck and staring at the unusually bright moon. Minutes passed as Lily thought about James and the letter and her trek into the Forest. She wondered where he could have gone. Had James already returned to the school? Surely not, or someone would have been sent to find her. Lily stared out at the dark trees, _He's still out there somewhere_.

A mournful howl broke the silence.

The stag started and Lily was nearly knocked into the lake. It stood and pawed the ground before turning to face her. At first it looked apologetic, then fearful. It nudged her arm repeatedly with its muzzle, pushing her toward the school.

"What's the matter?" she asked. Only a moment ago, the stag had been calm and peaceful. Now, it seemed positively frantic.

There was another howl and the stag looked apologetic again. He lowered his head, scratching Lily with sharp antlers, as if to herd her toward the castle.

"I am **not** cattle, thank you very much." said Lily, hotly. She glared at the animal. _Did it just roll its eyes at me?_

It lowered its head again.

"All right, all right. I'm going." The stag snorted and followed Lily toward the school, pushing her if she slowed down.

The howl sounded again, closer. Suddenly, an animal sprang into view around the corner of the castle. A werewolf. Lily screamed and the stag leapt in front of her, a shield against the approaching beast.

Sirius heard Remus's howls and knew that something was wrong. His friend was usually quiet, unless he found prey. He hurried along the tunnels beneath the Shrieking Shack, wondering where James was, and hoping that Remus had not found him alone.

When he reached the surface, a new sound mixed with the werewolf's howls and yelps. Sirius could hear someone screaming. A girl. He ran faster.

As he rounded the corner of the castle, he came to the shores of the Black Lake. A grisly sight met his eyes, something that he had never wanted to see. Lily had found James, but he had transformed into a stag. He and Remus were locked in a battle, and Lily was staring wide-eyed, in terror.

Sirius ran as quickly as his canine legs could travel, but he knew that he was too late. There was already too much blood. He could see it on the grass, splashed and pools that shone black in the light of the full moon. James's coat was stained red, and, though he had Remus caught between his antlers, the werewolf had a strong hold on the stag's neck. James was falling.

Ordinarily, when their friend transformed at the full moon, James and Sirius were both there to keep him in line. Usually, they took him into the forest and let him run off his energy. Sirius hadn't wanted to risk it that night, but Remus had gotten away from him. Peter was no help; what good could a rat do when faced with a werewolf? Without James, the tag-team strategy had failed, and now they were paying the price. Instead of two-to-one, James had been forced to take Remus on singlehandedly. Now it was Sirius's turn.

He lunged and caught Remus by surprise. The werewolf let go of James, who fell to the ground and lay still. Sirius wanted to help him, to get him to the infirmary, but he knew that he had to stop Remus first. If he woke the next morning to find that he had killed, he would never forgive himself; he wouldn't care that he couldn't have helped it.

Sirius hooked his teeth into the soft tissue of Remus's neck, and shook with all his might. He let go, and Remus was thrown against a tree. He snarled at the dog, small compared to himself, but turned and made for the forest.

Sirius turned and ran to James's side. He watched as the stag began to change shape, and Lily gasped as James took its place. He was bleeding profusely, and his breathing was shallow; his chest shook each time he inhaled. Lily collapsed next to him, sobbing.

Sirius transformed and crouched next to her. He gripped her shoulders and said, "I'll run to get Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore. Stay with him."

She nodded, glancing up only to see a large black dog sprinting toward the castle.

"Oh, James," she cried, "if only I had found you sooner. I'm so stupid to have gotten lost in the forest. I should have used my wand as a compass."

She put her hand to his cheek. It felt cold.

"James, please," she whispered frantically, "please don't go. Sirius went for help. You'll be okay in a minute." She didn't think that he could hear her, but she was trying to convince herself that he would be fine. Lily held his hand.

She thought about the werewolf and knew that it had been Remus. Lily had known about his condition since their second year, but she had never asked him about it. She never asked how he managed to get through his worst nights, but now she knew. His best friends stayed with him, risking their lives, to keep him safe.

She wondered what would happen to James. Did a werewolf's bite have the same effect on animagi that it did on regular people? If it did, Remus would never forgive himself. She tightened her grasp on James's hand, and rocked back and forth, crooning too him, trying to reassure them both that he would pull through.

The castle doors burst open, and a ghostly yellow light spilled out onto the grounds. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore were sprinting across the lawn with Sirius right behind them. Lily vaguely wondered where Peter was.

"Miss Evans, please let go of Mr. Potter's hand; I need to get him to the hospital wing immediately." Madam Pomfrey sounded frightened, which was rare. She almost always knew how to handle medical emergencies, but this was something that she had never dealt with before. She wasn't sure if the boy would make it. She was sceptical. He would have to be sent to St. Mungo's.

"Lily, please let go." Professor Dumbledore placed a hand on Lily's shoulder, and she released James's hand. The headmaster helped her up and did not protest when she turned and began to cry on his shoulder.

Sirius caught up to them. "I'm sorry, sir. James wasn't back yet, but I had to get Remus to the Shack, and then he got away from me, and..." he trailed off. They all knew exactly what had happened next.

Dumbledore patted Lily's back and took off toward the edge of the forest. He would tell Hagrid that Remus was loose in the forest, and to keep an eye for him. It was all that could be done without putting more lives in danger.

Sirius watched Professor Dumbledore until he was out of sight. Lily was staring out across the black water, tears streaming silently down her face. She was in shock. He took her by the hand and led her slowly up to the castle. He knew there was no point in running.

They reached the hospital wing with no trouble, taking multiple short-cuts and hidden passages. The found James lying on a bed, wrapped in bandages that were already soaked through with blood. Madam Pomfrey was leaning over his bed, muttering incantations that didn't seem to be doing any good.

She looked up at them with glassy eyes, "I can't get the wounds to heal." she mumbled shakily, "I've sent an owl to St. Mungo's for assistance. Mr. Potter will most likely be transferred to their facilities, where they can better monitor-" she let out a small sob.

Sirius pulled two chairs next to James's bed and pushed Lily into one of them. He settled into the second chair, ready for a long night.

Before long, Lily had cried herself to sleep. Sirius yawned, picked her up, and set her gently on the next hospital bed. He re-seated himself and continued to stare at the clock on the wall.

[A/N]: I'm actually kind of angry with myself for just about killing James. Obviously, you all know that he doesn't die (hello, if he died we would be without Harry, and this story wouldn't exist), but things are going to be a bit rocky.

As always, please review. The previous chapters, though recently edited, were mostly written a few years back, and my writing has progressed since then. I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback, positive, or otherwise. Thanks for reading. :]


	11. Life

**Last Chance**

**Chapter Ten: Life**

Lily wondered who was whispering. She had been pulled from a strange, albeit pleasant, dream, and she was not entirely happy to be awake. Her eyes were sore and her face was puffy under her fingers. Her pillow was damp.

"It's a miracle the boy survived such an attack."

It took Lily a moment to remember where she was. The bed that she was lying on was much firmer than the one in her room. The lights were on and they were dazzling her through her eyelids. She opened her eyes just enough to take in her surroundings: a row of hospital beds, curtains, chairs, high windows, and great wooden doors. The hospital wing. She tried to remember how she had gotten there, but her memory was fuzzy. She thought that there had been a stag, and a dog, and a wolf, but she could not be sure.

She turned her head to look over her shoulder and found herself staring into the eyes of Sirius Black. She started, yanking the white sheets up to her chin and forcing her eyes to open completely. He jumped slightly, but held a finger to his lips, telling her to stay quiet.

Behind him, a group of people were leaning over a bed. Madame Pomfrey was among them, holding a bottled labelled "Essence of Dittany".

"Will there be any contamination?" she whispered.

"We cannot be certain," said an older wizard standing next to her, "The circumstances are quite unique."

One of the witches standing over the bed straightened up. She had been muttering incantations and there was a faint golden glow as she tucked her wand into her robes. "We must speak with Dumbledore now, but we shall return to monitor the boy. Should his condition change in any way, do not hesitate to summon us." she said.

Madame Pomfrey gave them a weary nod and her thanks as she walked them to the door. When they had left she cast a long, sad look at the bed before disappearing into her office.

The crowd around the bed having dispersed, Lily turned her head and was able to see who was injured. She gasped and began to cry anew. James was still unconscious and, though it looked as if his bandages had been changed, patches of scarlet were blooming slowly at his neck and on his chest. The minor scratches seemed to have been healed, but the bites remained and gashes remained.

Lily got out of bed and sat in the empty chair next to Sirius. He turned his chair around and they gazed at James in silence. His breathing was shallow, but stable. His complexion was much paler than usual; he seemed drained.

"How long has it been?" Lily murmured.

"'Bout four hours," Sirius said, "It's nearly two in the morning."

Lily hugged her legs to her chest and rested her chin on knees. _He tried to protect me_, she thought, _and he nearly died_. "Why did he do it?" she asked.

"Do what?"  
"Save me."

"What do you mean, why?" Sirius said incredulously.

"If he hadn't jumped in front of me, he wouldn't be lying-"

Sirius smiled softly, "James loves you; he would never have let anything happen to you."

"But he's been avoiding me."

"I know," he said, "but he was hurting."

Lily watched James breathing; his hair fluttered each time he exhaled. "It's all my fault." She whispered.

Sirius put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him. "It is not," he said as she leaned against him, "You didn't make him run into the forest, and you meant well by going after him."

Lily was crying again. Silent tears spilled down her cheeks, soaking Sirius's shoulder. _I almost forgot why he ran in the first place_, she thought. "He's had a dreadful day."

Sirius chuckled. It sounded almost like a dog. _Now I know where their stupid nicknames come from_. Lily began to laugh too.

"Oi, when you've finished laughing at my pathetic state..." James croaked.

Lily and Sirius stopped laughing and looked at him. His eyes were open, though only halfway. His hands were on his chest, feeling the bandages, assessing the damage. He tried to sit up, but Sirius pushed him back onto the bed.

"You need to take it easy." he said.

James rolled his eyes and focused his attention on Lily. She was still crying, tears spilling silently down her cheeks. She seemed almost frightened as she watched him warily.

"How long have you been awake?" she choked.

"Long enough to hear you two giggling like drunken house elves. Why?" He wondered what they had really been laughing about. Together. He shook his head slightly to rid himself of the idea, but it only worsened his headache. He gasped and put his hands over his eyes.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"I think they're transferring you to St. Mungo's." Sirius replied. He moved over and sat on the end of James's hospital bed, causing the mattress to groan and sink a few inches. He bounced up and down a few times and said, "I almost forgot how comfortable these things are."

James gave him a weak smile; every inch of him was sore.

"How many times does this make, mate?" Sirius said, grinning at James.

"Something like seventy-eight."

They fell silent and James looked at Lily again. She looked away.

"Why so quiet, Lily?" he said.

Lily only meant to glance at him, but she found his eyes boring into hers, and she was unable to look away. He wanted to know that it was okay, that _she_ was okay. She wanted to know that he forgave her for being so difficult with him. Hazel and green, searching each other.

After a long minute, Sirius cleared his throat. Lily blushed and went back to looking at her hands, twisting them in her lap. James slumped onto his pillow and winced: he had a cramp in his side. He tried to stretch to ease the pain.

He gasped, and Lily and Sirius looked up in alarm. The bandages on his chest, which had begun to brown at the edges, were once more a sickening scarlet. A trickle of blood oozed from under the gauze. His wounds were bleeding afresh.

"M-madame Promfrey," Sirius stuttered as James's eyelids began to droop, "Madame Pomfrey!" He ran to her office and was about to pound on the door, when she opened it, a look of absolute horror on her face.

"What has happened?" she asked quietly, as she rushed to James's bedside.

"H-he... he only moved about an inch, but..."

Lily had never seen Sirius so upset. He seemed frightened. He stood next to James, holding his hand, as Madame Pomfrey removed the bandages. James had already lost consciousness, but this time he didn't seem to be sleeping peacefully. His breathing was growing more ragged.

Terrified, Lily was staring at James. She felt childish and stupid for having been worrying whether or not James had heard her conversation with Sirius. Now she worried that she might never have another conversation with James.

"Lily."

She was shaking.

"_Lily._"

She was rocking back and forth in her chair, her knees hugged tightly against her chest.

"Lily!"

Sirius's shout pulled her out of her dreadful thoughts. She stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Lily, you have to go get the Healers from Dumbledore's office." Sirius said. She glanced at his hand and noticed that his knuckles were white. "Lily, go get the Healers!"

Lily jumped and skittered across the Hospital Wing to the doors. She fumbled with the handle before finally pulling it open just enough to slip out into the deserted corridor. She made it to the stairs without being seen, and she raced up to the seventh floor.

By the time she reached the stone gargoyle that stood sentry at the entrance to Dumbledore's study, she was out of breath.

"Non proditor," she said, panting.

But the gargoyle did not step aside. It merely shook its head and waited for her to try something else.

"No, please!" Lily pleaded, "It's an emergency!"

The gargoyle did nothing.

"Please!" Lily was sobbing again, but she was angry. How were she and James ever supposed to report emergencies to Dumbledore if he did not inform them when he changed passwords? She punched the gargoyle.

"Now that's quite enough of that!" said the statue, offended.

"Evans!"

Lily instantly twisted around, only to find Mr. Filch, the caretaker, stalking toward her, looking gleeful.

"Even the Head Girl doesn't have permission to be out this late. And trying to break into the Headmaster's office?" He leered at her and looked at her bloody knuckles, "And you've been fighting with someone. We'll see how the Headmaster feels about this." He shuffled over to the gargoyle, shoving Lily out of the way and muttering something about "no excuses".

"Pepper Imp," said Filch, and the stone gargoyle complied, stepping aside and revealing the spiralling staircase. "Come."

Lily followed him, wondering vaguely why Dumbledore had suddenly chosen to use sweets as passwords, and feeling that, even if she did get a detention, it would be worth it to get to Professor Dumbledore and the Healers.

Filch knocked on the oak door.

"Entre," Dumbledore called.

As Filch opened the door, Lily pushed past him. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking old and weary, and the Healers were seated in front of him. They all turned to face her and she felt her face go red. She thought that she must look like an complete mess.

"Professor," she said quickly, "James is getting worse. He needs-"

But the healers had already gotten to their feet. They nodded to Dumbledore and she stepped aside as they rushed past her and down the staircase.

Mr. Filch cleared his throat. "I caught this rule-breaker trying to break into your office, Headmaster. It appears she was in a fight." He grabbed Lily's hand to display her raw knuckles.

"I only hit the statue!" she said. Exasperated, she looked pleadingly at Dumbledore.

"Miss Evans had every reason to break down my door this evening, Argus." Dumbledore said.

"But-"

"That is all, Argus. I will speak to Lily myself."

It was a clear dismissal, and Filch turned his back on them. Muttering to himself again, he pulled the doors shut behind him as he shuffled out of the office.

Dumbledore waited until Filch's footsteps had died away before offering Lily a seat in front of his desk. She dropped into the seat, not caring whether she did so gracefully. She looked into Dumbledore's twinkling eyes and had the distinct feeling that they were X-raying her, looking into her. She straightened up in her chair as best as she could.

"Miss Evans, I believe that it goes without saying that what you have experienced in the last few hours has been truly terrifying." She gave him the smallest of nods, and he went on. "I must ask, however, that you keep the truth hidden."

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant by that, but Dumbledore held up a hand to silence her.

"I assume you have determined the identity of our resident werewolf?" he asked.

"Remus." she whispered.

Dumbledore inclined his head in her direction. "Remus Lupin is an exemplary student and a loyal friend. When he discovers what has taken place this evening, he will be very distressed, and he will, in all likelihood, blame himself. If it became common knowledge that he were a werewolf, and that he was involved in the events that took place tonight, he would be shunned by students and parents alike. He carries enough grief already."

"And why should people shun him?" Lily asked heatedly. There was a fiery gleam in her eyes. "Why can't Remus be himself? We love him no matter what he is, and we would still love him even if he turned into the giant squid once a month. I-"

Dumbledore held up his hand again. "I am very glad that you think so, Miss Evans, and I quite agree. But people are so very close-minded, and the thought of someone being part man and part beast unnerves them. We must keep Mr. Lupin's secret, as it is not ours to tell. Mr. Snape has also given his word-"

"Snape?" Lily interjected, "Severus Snape? What's he got to do with anything?"

"Like you, he has discovered the truth about Mr. Lupin."

"He knows? He... That's what he wanted to tell me." Lily sunk back into her chair.

"Please explain." Dumbledore said firmly.

"He... At the end of fifth year, we had a fight. He wrote to me over the summer – he was trying to get me to forgive him – and he said he had a big secret to tell me. Something about the Marauders..."

"Yes," Dumbledore's eyes seemed darker now. "Mr. Snape does, in fact know a great secret about them. He had suspected for a few years that Mr. Lupin's condition was serious, and he went looking for him one night during the full moon. Mr. Potter saved his life."

"James-" Lily paused, "Well, Snape was stupid." she said bluntly.

"While it is true that curiosity nearly killed the cat," Dumbledore chuckled slightly and Lily couldn't help but smile weakly, "it was not all his doing."

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps that is a question for your friends. Now, I think we should join the others in the Hospital Wing."

Lily cursed herself for having almost forgotten why she had come to Dumbledore in the first place. She waited for him at the door, and together they made their way back to the third floor.

When they arrived, there was chaos.

The Healers were sprinting back and forth, between Madame Pomfrey's office and James's bed. Each time one of them re-emerged from the office, they brought with them a new elixir, a new potion, a new incantation. Dumbledore rushed to join them, but nothing seemed to be working. They were all wearing rubber gloves, which Lily assumed had once been blue, but which were now a strange reddish violet, and some of their white robes were smeared with blood.

Sirius was still standing protectively over his best friend, gripping his hand and glaring at the Healers each time James unconsciously winced. Lily rushed to his side, only to take a step back when she realised that tears were leaking slowly from his eyes. She put a hand on his arm, hoping to comfort him in some way, but he did not seem to notice. _Why am I so useless,_ Lily thought.

It all happened in a matter of seconds.

James's pale hand seemed to go limp. The nearest Healer pressed his fingers to James's neck and shouted something about "code blue". Sirius let out a pained howl as, suddenly, the Healers, Madame Pomfrey, and Dumbledore converged by the bed all at once, forcing him out of the way. He fought to get back to James's side, but then they were gone.


End file.
